Author: Paul Dahoon Kim (Founder, MetaPret. Senior-tier Korean-English interpreter, 10+ years)
Last updated: 2026-06-02
Read time: ~6 minutes
Summary: There is no public price list in the interpretation market. This guide lays out what the Seoul market broadly charges in 2026 — escort, consecutive, simultaneous, and whisper day-rate ranges by domain — the five factors that move price, and how to read a quote. These are market figures, not MetaPret's prices.
Why there is no public price list
Agencies bundle their margin into a single rate rather than itemizing it, and independent professionals quote per engagement, so buyers rarely have a benchmark for whether a quote is reasonable. The ranges below are market context — what the Seoul market broadly charges, by interpretation type and engagement weight — collected from market data and a working interpreter's experience. They are NOT MetaPret's prices. MetaPret quotes per project (see the close at the end).
By interpretation type (Seoul market, per day)
Escort / liaison interpretation (one interpreter accompanying meetings, factory visits, dinners):
- General business: KRW 400,000–700,000 / day (8 hrs)
- Domain-specialized (legal / medical / finance): KRW 600,000–1,200,000 / day
- Senior-experience, high-difficulty domains: KRW 1,000,000–1,800,000 / day
Consecutive interpretation (speaker pauses, interpreter follows; meetings, negotiations, interviews):
- General business meetings: KRW 500,000–900,000 / day
- M&A / IR / legal: KRW 900,000–1,800,000 / day
- Senior-experience, high-difficulty: KRW 1,500,000–2,500,000 / day
Simultaneous interpretation (near real-time; conferences, multilingual events — always a team of 2+, per interpreter):
- General conference: KRW 1,000,000–1,800,000 / day
- Medical / scientific conference: KRW 1,500,000–2,500,000 / day
- Senior / AIIC-member level: KRW 2,000,000–3,500,000 / day
- As a 2-person team, one language pair, one day: roughly KRW 2,000,000–5,000,000, with booth equipment a separate KRW 800,000–1,500,000 / day.
Whisper interpretation (chuchotage; 1–2 listeners, interpreter beside them):
- KRW 1,000,000–2,000,000 / day (cognitive load is close to simultaneous, so it is priced similarly).
Market averages (Seoul, one day)
| Engagement type | Market range (Seoul, 1 day) |
|---|---|
| Business meeting accompaniment | KRW 500,000–900,000 |
| Executive visit accompaniment | KRW 700,000–1,400,000 |
| M&A negotiation / IR meeting | KRW 1,000,000–2,000,000 |
| Medical / legal domain | KRW 900,000–1,800,000 |
| Conference simultaneous (team of 2) | KRW 2,500,000–4,500,000 |
| Whisper interpretation | KRW 1,000,000–2,000,000 |
| Factory visit / industrial site | KRW 700,000–1,300,000 |
Outside Seoul (Busan, Daejeon, etc.): the ranges above plus travel cost (KTX round-trip roughly KRW 100,000, plus roughly KRW 100,000 if an overnight is needed). Overseas: the ranges above plus airfare, hotel, and a travel-day charge customarily billed at 50% of the day rate.
The five things that move price
The same interpretation type can vary 1.5–3x with five factors:
- Domain specialization — legal / medical / finance / M&A specialists command roughly 30–80% more than general business, because fewer interpreters can carry the domain vocabulary.
- Timing — evenings add roughly 30–50%, weekends and holidays 50–100%, same-day / sub-24-hour requests 30–80%.
- City / travel — Seoul is the base; other cities add travel cost, and overseas adds airfare, hotel, and a 50% travel-day charge.
- Experience level — market price reacts strongly to seniority, though years alone do not guarantee skill, which is exactly why MetaPret tests rather than assumes.
- Agency margin — traditional agencies typically add 30–60% on top of the interpreter's pay, bundled into one rate rather than itemized.
How MetaPret prices — and why these numbers aren't ours
The ranges above are market context, not a MetaPret price list. MetaPret quotes per project: one all-in quote per engagement, shown before you confirm the match — no itemized markup to decode. Interpreters keep 100% of their pay. And the interpreter you are matched with has passed a scored, per-engagement test for that exact engagement — MetaPret does not skip verification to chase a lower number. Tell us the engagement type, domain, schedule, and city at metapret.net/request and a quote comes back within 24 hours.